The GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Documentary is an annual award that honors documentaries for excellence in the treatment of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) individuals, history, and themes. It is one of several categories of the annual GLAAD Media Awards, which are presented by GLAAD—an American non-governmental media monitoring organization—at ceremonies held primarily in New York City and Los Angeles between March and May.
The award is one of the few to date back to the 1st GLAAD Media Awards in 1990, where it was given to Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt. While no documentary was recognized in 1991 or 1993, the award has been present at every ceremony since the 5th GLAAD Media Awards in 1994. It has been jointly awarded on four occasions, having been given to two documentaries in 1995 and 2014, and three in 1996 and 2024.
For a documentary to be eligible, it must either receive a theatrical release or air on television in more than one local market. Documentaries receiving a theatrical release must be distributed by a recognized film distribution company and play for paid admission for seven consecutive days, while televised ones must air on television within two years of completion. The award is given to the documentary and may be accepted by any of the producers, directors, or individuals featured in the documentary. Documentaries selected by GLAAD are evaluated based on four criteria: "Fair, Accurate, and Inclusive Representations" of the LGBT community, "Boldness and Originality" of the project, significant "Impact" on mainstream culture, and "Overall Quality" of the project. GLAAD monitors mainstream media to identify which documentaries will be nominated, while also issuing a call for entries that encourages media outlets to submit documentaries for consideration. By contrast, in order for documentaries created by and for LGBT audiences to be considered for nomination, they must be submitted after the call for entries. Winners are determined by a plurality vote by GLAAD staff and its board, Shareholders Circle members, volunteers and affiliated individuals.
Since its inception, the award has been given to 39 documentaries. The only television programs to have been nominated twice are MTV's The Real World and True Life, both of which won once. The Real World won for its third season The Real World: San Francisco in 1995, and True Life for the episode "I'm Gay and I'm Getting Married" in 2005. At the 35th GLAAD Media Awards in 2024, the award was given to Beyond the Aggressives: 25 Years Later, Kokomo City, and The Stroll.
Winners and nominees + Table key Indicates the winner
1990s + Award year Documentary Distributor / Network 1990(1st) Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt Direct Cinema 1992(3rd) Paris Is Burning Off-White Productions / Prestige Pictures 1994(5th) Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives Women Make Movies 1995(6th) Coming Out Under Fire Deep Focus Films MTV 1996(7th) Ballot Measure 9 Sovereign Distribution Sony Pictures Classics PBS 1997(8th) It's Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues in School New Day Films 1998(9th) Paul Monette: The Brink of Summer's End Cinemax Behind the Music: "Boy George" VH1 Hide and Seek PBS I Shall Not Be Removed: The Life of Marlon Riggs Licensed to Kill 1999(10th) Out of the Past PBS Zeitgeist Films Dear Jesse Cowboy Pictures Bravo San Francisco Neighborhoods: The Castro PBS
2000s + Award year Documentary Distributor / Network 2000(11th) Out at Work HBO After Stonewall First Run Features E! True Hollywood Story: "Divine" E! Golden Threads PBS 2001(12th) Living with Pride: Ruth Ellis @ 100 Sundance Channel Creature Seventh Art Releasing Our House PBS MTV You Don't Know Dick Sundance Channel 2002(13th) Scout's Honor PBS 5 Girls PBS American High Keep the River on Your Right: A Modern Cannibal Tale IFC Films Paragraph 175 HBO 2003(14th) Trembling Before G-d New Yorker Films Gay Weddings Bravo Middle School Confessions HBO Southern Comfort True Life: "I'm Coming Out" MTV 2004(15th) Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin PBS Showtime Daddy & Papa PBS Hope Along the Wind: The Life of Harry Hay School's Out: The Life of a Gay High School in Texas MTV 2005(16th) True Life: "I'm Gay and I'm Getting Married" MTV No Secret Anymore: The Times of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon Sundance Channel Showtime Paternal Instinct Cinemax Tarnation Wellspring Media 2006(17th) TransGeneration Sundance Channel / Logo American Experience: Kinsey PBS Middle Sexes: Redefining He and She HBO Same Sex America Showtime We Are Dad 2007(18th) All Aboard! Rosie's Family Cruise HBO Billie Jean King: Portrait of a Pioneer HBO My Mums Used to be Men BBC America One Punk Under God Sundance Channel This Film Is Not Yet Rated IFC Films 2008(19th) For the Bible Tells Me So First Run Features Camp Out Logo Cruel and Unusual: Transgender Women in Prison We TV Freddie Mercury: Magic Remixed VH1 / Logo Small Town Gay Bar Logo 2009(20th) First Run Features Chris & Don. A Love Story Zeitgeist Films Freeheld Cinemax Saving Marriage Regent Releasing Sex Change Hospital We TV
2010s + Award year Documentary Distributor / Network 2010(21st) Ask Not PBS Be Like Others HBO Derek Sundance Channel Diva Productions U People Logo 2011(22nd) 8: The Mormon Proposition Red Flag Releasing Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement Sundance Channel Out. The Glenn Burke Story Comcast SportsNet Bay Area Prodigal Sons First Run Features Unsung: "Sylvester" TV One 2012(23rd) Becoming Chaz Oprah Winfrey Network HBO Two Spirits PBS We Were Here Red Flag Releasing Logo 2013(24th) How to Survive a Plague Sundance Selects Codebreaker TODpix Hit So Hard Variance Films Vito HBO Wish Me Away First Run Features 2014(25th) Bridegroom Virgil Films / Oprah Winfrey Network Call Me Kuchu Cinedigm God Loves Uganda Variance Films Promised Land Films Valentine Road HBO 2015(26th) L Word Mississippi: Hate the Sin Showtime HBO Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word Logo / MTV To Russia with Love Epix True Trans with Laura Jane Grace AOL Originals 2016(27th) Kumu Hina PBS Limited Partnership PBS Mala Mala Strand Releasing Tab Hunter Confidential The Film Collaborative Tig Netflix 2017(28th) Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four Investigation Discovery Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures HBO Out of Iraq Logo The Same Difference Centric The Trans List HBO 2018(29th) Gender Revolution: A Journey with Katie Couric National Geographic Chavela Music Box Films Independent Lens: "Real Boy" PBS Kiki Sundance Selects This is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous YouTube Red 2019(30th) Believer HBO Calling Her Ganda Breaking Glass Pictures My House Viceland Quiet Heroes Logo When the Beat Drops
2020s + Award year Documentary Distributor / Network 2020(31st) State of Pride YouTube 5B RYOT Gay Chorus Deep South MTV Leitis in Waiting PBS Wig HBO 2021(32nd) Disclosure Netflix Circus of Books Netflix Equal HBO Max For They Know Not What They Do First Run Features Howard Disney+ Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado Netflix Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street Virgil Films / Shudder Visible: Out on Television Apple TV+ We Are the Radical Monarchs POV / PBS Welcome to Chechnya HBO 2022(33rd) Changing the Game Hulu Cured PBS / Independent Lens Flee Neon HBO No Ordinary Man Oscilloscope Laboratories Nuclear Family HBO Pier Kids PBS / POV Pray Away Netflix Pride FX 2023(34th) Framing Agnes Kino Lorber All the Beauty and the Bloodshed HBO Netflix Discovery+ Mama's Boy HBO Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back Starz Mormon No More Hulu Queer for Fear Shudder Sirens Oscilloscope Stay on Board: The Leo Baker Story Netflix 2024(35th) Beyond the Aggressives: 25 Years Later MTV Documentary Films Kokomo City Magnolia Pictures The Stroll HBO Eldorado: Everything the Nazis Hate Netflix Every Body Focus Features Little Richard: I Am Everything Magnolia Pictures Orlando, My Political Biography Janus Films Rainbow Rishta Amazon Prime Video Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed HBO Documentary Films POV: "UYRA – The Rising Forest" PBS 2025(36th) Will & Harper NetflixIndependent Lens: "Breaking the News" PBS Photographer: "Campbell Addy" National Geographic Chasing Chasing Amy Level 33 Entertainment Down in the Valley Starz Hidden Master: The Legacy of George Platt Lynes Greenwich Entertainment POV: "Hummingbirds" PBS Lil Nax X: Long Live Montero HBO Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution Netflix POV: "Who I am Not" PBS 2026(37th) Come See Me in the Good Light Apple TVAmy Bradley Is Missing Netflix Enigma HBO Heightened Scrutiny Fourth Act Film I'm Your Venus Netflix In Transit Prime Video Love & Rage: Munroe Bergdorf Peacock POV: "A Mother Apart" PBS Pee-Wee as Himself HBO Sally National Geographic
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